(REUTERS) — With 8:55 remaining in overtime, Thomas Vanek scored, giving the defending champion Minnesota Gophers (29-8-9) a 3-2 victory over Michigan Thursday and advancing the Golden Gophers to the NCAA Frozen Four championship game against New Hampshire Saturday.
Gino Guyer and Troy Riddle also scored for the Gophers, who overcame a 2-0 deficit.
The Wildcats, behind Steve Saviano’s two goals, beat top-seeded Cornell 3-2 in the day’s other semifinal.
Vanek, who also had an assist, ended the game on a great individual effort. Getting to a loose puck in the left corner, he eluded a defender and snapped a shot from a bad angle that beat Michigan goalie Al Montoya through the legs.
Minnesota extended its unbeaten streak to 13 games (11-0-2) and overcame a two-goal deficit for the fourth time this season. The Gophers, who beat Maine 4-3 in overtime in last year’s championship game, could become the first team to repeat since Boston University won in 1971 and ’72.
Brandon Kaleniecki and Jed Ortmeyer scored for Michigan (30-10-2), which lost its third semifinal game in as many years.
The Wolverines, eliminated by Minnesota in last year’s semifinals, have not advanced to the championship game since winning the title in 1998.
Minnesota came out flat. Its offense, ranked third in the nation, managed just five shots in the first period, while its defense needed plenty of help from goalie Travis Weber, who made several sharp stops on the 15 shots he faced.
Kaleniecki’s goal came off a botched faceoff deep in the Minnesota end, beating two Gophers to the puck and snapping it in from the slot 9:33 into the game.
Another defensive miscue led to Ortmeyer’s goal, which put the Wolverines ahead 2-0 in the second period. Ortmeyer checked Chris Harrington off the puck and drove to the net, where he got a pass from Jeff Tambellini.
Alone in front, Ortmeyer then slipped a shot through Weber’s legs.
The Gophers finally responded. Riddle capped a scramble in front, tapping in a loose puck with 2:15 left in the second period.
Guyer tied the game 1:35 into the third, one-timing in Barry Tallackson’s centering pass.
Michigan appeared to go up 3-2 with 10:09 left in regulation. Jason Ryznar’s shot deflected off several legs and eventually trickled in. The goal was disallowed when referee Scott Hansen, backed by a video review, ruled he whistled down play before the puck crossed the goal line.
Ryznar had another chance to score with 3:15 remaining. With Weber out of position, Ryznar shot at an unguarded net, only to have his backhander from the slot blocked by diving Gopher defenseman Paul Martin.
New Hampshire faced similar referee controversy in its semifinal before Mike Ayers and the Wildcats finally woke up.
Ayers stopped 19 shots, including one off his mask in the waning seconds, as New Hampshire advanced to the NCAA championship game with a 3-2 upset of the top-seeded Cornell Thursday. Steve Saviano had two goals and Tim Horst also scored as New Hampshire (28-7-6) advanced to Saturday’s final.
Ryan Vesce and Chris Abbott scored for Cornell (30-5-1), which had gone 14-0-1 in its last 15 games. The Big Red, eliminated in last year’s NCAA tournament quarterfinals by New Hampshire, were trying to win their first title since 1970, when they finished 29-0.
The Wildcats finished strong after a slow start, when they were outshot 7-1 in the first 12 minutes.
The turning point came following a video review when referee Don Adam disallowed a goal scored by Cornell’s Shane Palahicky. Adam ruled that Palahicky used a high stick to deflect Jeremy Downs’ point shot into the net.
“I just kind of relaxed and had a good feeling,” Ayers said.
“We needed a momentum shift,” added Patrick Foley. “We built off it, and that’s when I think we took control of the game and didn’t look back.”
The Wildcats responded by outshooting Cornell 13-4 in building a 3-0 lead on Saviano’s power-play goal 7:10 into the second period.
Cornell eventually closed to within 3-2 on Chris Abbott’s goal midway through the third period. But the Big Red’s chances of forcing overtime ended when Stephen Baby, set up to the left of the net, had his shot go off Ayers’ mask and off the post with 22 seconds remaining.
Baby acknowledged that the disallowed goal had an impact.
“It was a little bit of a letdown,” Baby said. “We thought it might have been a goal. There’s nothing you can do but continue to go hard to the net.”
Big Red goaltender David LeNeveu called it “a blow to our sails.”
It was an unlikely performance from a Cornell team that led the nation in every major defensive category this season. And it was a discouraging finish for LeNeveu, who led the nation with a 1.14 goals-against average and is one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker award, given to college hockey’s most valuable player.
The three goals matched the most allowed by LeNeveu this season.
“It’s very disappointing, coming this far and losing such a close game,” LeNeveu said. “There’s nothing you can do when the pucks don’t bounce your way. We came close, but close is not enough.”
Horst, set up by Tyler Scott, opened the scoring one-timing a shot from the slot 14 minutes into the game.
Saviano then scored goals six minutes apart in the second period, his second beating LeNeveu on the short side from a bad angle.
It was the first multiple-goal game of Saviano’s career, and it came at the right time as the Wildcats were minus leading scorer Lanny Gare, who has a separated shoulder. Gare, who practiced gingerly with the team Wednesday, hasn’t ruled out playing in Saturday’s final.
“Lanny Gare’s a great player, and we knew we needed some more balanced offense. We put that on our shoulders and went out and did it,” Saviano said. “I don’t get many goals often, and I got two in a big game. But us getting up 3-0 was definitely a great feeling for our team.”
